After 24 candidates applied, but only one was interviewed, Dr. John DeCotis was named "finalist" in the Fayette County Board of Education's superintendent search Monday night.

His selection as the heir-apparent to Dr. Dave Brotherton, who retires this year, had an undertone of discord. Two board members complained about a short-circuited interview process, and a parent criticized DeCotis for "deceiving" them about a controversial curriculum guide in place in at least one middle school.

While the board was unanimous in their praise of DeCotis as an educator and individual, there were still regrets from members Woody Shelnutt and Connie Hale about the interview process. "I have the highest regard for Dr. DeCotis; he will do an outstanding job for us," Hale said. "I'd hoped we would have interviewed others, also. We didn't do that. We interviewed one person."

School Board Chairman Debbie Condon explained that it was their job to find the "most qualified candidate" and after the search firm sifted through the 24 applications, DeCotis was among the top five.

Condon said they were advised by the firm to interview current employees first. "We had a candidate with excellent credentials, who is more familiar with the system... It's a win, win situation. No other candidate would have it all. We wanted to be honest and fair to the other candidates. The consensus was that the interview process should end. In conclusion, I want to say that no one has spent more time thinking about this than me," Condon said. "John DeCotis will make an excellent leader," she added.

Comments from the audience included some accusatory statements to the board about DeCotis from Peachtree City parent Ron Baran.

He and his wife Chris first came before the board six months ago, with a request that Brotherton and the board look into a curriculum called "Integrated Thematic Instruction" which they claim is being introduced in schools all over the county under the direction of DeCotis.

J.C. Booth Middle School in Peachtree City has some of the ITI curriculum in place, Baran said.

Dissatisfied with the school system's response to their allegations of shortening academic learning time, psychological testing and unusual group oriented games, the Barans appeared before the board again, this time displaying two of the books, one on ITI by Susan Kovalik and another entitled "Tribes," which they claim is "an extremely liberal, humanistic textbook, which focuses on 'new age social thinking.'"

At one point during Baran's address, Condon interrupted him. "Curb your comments; this is not a time for personal attacks," she said.

Following the meeting, DeCotis said he had met with the Baran's previously, but declined to comment on their allegations. When asked if there were other parents who had voiced concerns over the controversial material, DeCotis said, "No they are the only ones."

A letter to the editor from the Barans about the curriculum is on Page 4A in this edition.

DeCotis currently is the county's assistant superintendent for curriculum, and has been employed by the board of education since 1979, when he taught at J.C. Booth Middle School. Since then, he has served as assistant principal at McIntosh and Fayette County High schools, principal of Huddleston Elementary, and has held various administrative positions. He will replace Brotherton, who is retiring in June.

The board also approved the adoption of new social studies textbooks at a cost of $759,000.

Glenn Walker, who headed up the Social Studies Textbook Adoption Committee, explained how the books were selected for classes K-12, starting in October 1998. The committee, composed of 42 elementary and secondary school parents, teachers and administrators who compared topic coverage by publishers and how certain texts built on key concepts over the year and onto next grade levels. Teacher evaluations were taken into consideration, and a presentation was made by the publishers.

A decision was made on the top two books by consensus and the final choice was made by the teachers who teach that particular subject, Walker said. The new books will be introduced in the fall of this year.